Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

IZZY

" I hate this place," I grumble as I gaze up at asshole central. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean council HQ. Same thing, really.

For the past week, I've been oscillating between being completely and utterly terrified that all of my mates know what I am and being hopeful.

I know it's na?ve to hope that there's some way we all make it out of this, so I try to crush the tiny flame of hope in my chest. Yet it's still there, taunting me with everything I want that's just out of reach.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I gaze up at the ostentatious council compound.

While the sandstone walls and slate roof are fairly tame, the fountains that bubble out front are made of pure gold. Inside, the floors are gold marble, encrusted with diamonds in some places. The gold theme continues with gold-leaf-accented ceilings, crystal and gold chandeliers that light every room, and gilt frame portraits of all the current and former council dudes that line almost every wall.

Along with all the gold, the council headquarters is also massive. It's about a ten-minute walk to go from one end to the other of a single wing. The council compound has three separate wings. One wing is where they conduct council business, like the monthly council meeting, and councilor offices. Another wing is the mage prison, and the last is for experimental magic. I'm betting we'll find what we're looking for in the experimental magic wing.

Dad turns around and gives me a look to shut it while looking pointedly at the few stragglers rushing inside. I mime zipping my lips, and he just shakes his head at me. We're showing up late, so fewer people see us here. My dad is going to have to book it to get to the council chamber on time.

We walk up the stairs to the wrought-iron front door. The intricate scrollwork is dusted with gold leaf. Just in case you forgot that the council is rich for a moment. Dad pulls open the door and ushers us through.

Just inside the door are two mage security guards. They nod politely to Dad, Bishop, and Levi and sneer at me. I sneer right back because fuck them. The amount of power a person has shouldn't determine how they're treated.

Bishop subtly nudges me forward, probably worried I'll get in a confrontation with the guards. I may make bad decisions on the regular, but I'm not that stupid. The council headquarters is the absolute last place I'd choose to show magic. While I'm powerful, I don't think I'd win against the hundreds of mages crawling all over the place.

Rolling my eyes at Bishop, I glance down at my black Converse to avoid meeting anyone else's gaze. None of the mages will be happy that I'm here, so it's best if I just try to be invisible. There's only so much of their shit I can take quietly. But I can totally go an entire day without getting into a fight. Hopefully.

My dad insisted I dress up so I don't stand out. While I'm wearing a black skater dress, I refused to wear heels. We compromised with my black Chucks instead of my white ones. See? I can be reasonable.

Bishop and Levi are both in black suits. While Bishop wears a white dress shirt with a black tie, Levi is wearing a blood-red button-up and black tie. Levi looks kind of like what I think Hades would if he were hot. Or real, I guess. I dig it, though.

We pause when we come to a crossroads. My dad wraps me up in a quick hug, his dark blue velvet robes swirling around him as he moves. "Be safe, Izzy. Don't take risks. Get out of here the second you sense any danger, okay?" he whispers into my hair.

Luca had me make similar promises before he let me head out today. The big wolf is not happy about me being in danger without him. He didn't try to stop me, though, which is a pretty big win in my book.

While I have no intention of bailing at the first sign of danger, I nod at my dad to ease his mind. Dad then takes off down the hallway directly in front of us.

The three of us turn right. That's where they house the magic labs. While the council says it's for developing new ways to keep mages safe, I highly doubt that's the only type of magic they're experimenting with. Most of the crotchety old men on the council would happily sacrifice the entire mage race for a drop more of power. These labs are probably more for power enhancement than safety advances.

None of us put up shields or cloaks because we don't know what magic detection measures they might have. The council is super paranoid, so we're operating on the assumption there will be lots of booby traps. There's also no way to portal in or out of the council headquarters to protect against a magical invasion. So, we have to enter and exit through the front entrance.

It's only a few minutes of walking before we see an industrial door that's out of place in the nineteenth-century extravagance of the rest of the council estate.

"You seeing this, Aiden?" I whisper, knowing the tiny earpiece I'm wearing will pick up my quiet words. A small camera on Bishop's dress shirt gives our support team a visual.

While we could talk with our team on the outside with magic, mages expect that. Security measures at council HQ are designed to stop magical attacks or espionage. They don't think about attacks with tech, even though they use magic-enhanced tech to secure everything.

Technology is one of the mage world's biggest blind spots. While magic can do everything tech can do and more, technology can now do a lot of what magic can do. Tech now replaces a ton of tasks that were huge magic sucks, like viewing places from a distance and keeping doors locked. Even as more and more mages use technology, they still don't think to guard against tech attacks or things like tiny microphones or cameras.

It's baffling but super convenient. Elemental makes use of the tech blind spot to get a lot done.

"Yes, sir. I'm looping the cameras now. Gimme a moment to unlock the door," Aiden's disembodied voice replies in my ear.

"I'm not a sir," I correct him.

"Oh, trust me, the wolves anxiously watching my every move are well aware of your titties."

"For fuck's sake, Aiden," I grouse at my embarrassing brother.

I turn to commiserate with Bishop about how annoying Aiden is when I find his gaze locked on my boobs. They do look quite nice in this dress, if I do say so myself. Bishop slowly drags his stare up my chest to my face. When we lock eyes, his baby blues are full of heat he doesn't try to hide. My cheeks grow pink under his intense stare.

"Doors unlocked. You're good to go." Aiden's voice shakes me free of Bishop's bewitching gaze.

I hurry toward the door to avoid any awkward conversation. I don't get more than a few steps before someone grabs the back of my dress to stop me. My arms windmill as I try to keep from falling over.

Bishop's rainy forest scent surrounds me as he presses his front to my back. He puts his hands on my waist to steady me. "Where do you think you're going? You agreed not to rush in first, sweetheart. I expect you to keep your word," Bishop rasps in my ear, his warm breath caressing the side of my face.

His deep voice feels like it arrows straight to my core. My thighs clench as I fight a shiver at his words. I bite my cheek to keep from asking or what because that's not a game I want to play with him. Not now and probably not ever. My horny self doesn't need to know whether Bishop would enjoy punishing me as much as I think I'd like it.

Fuck . Right now is really not the time to be getting turned on.

"Sorry," I manage to force out through my suddenly dry mouth. It comes out breathy, but it's the best I can do right now.

Bishop lets out a deep chuckle, knowing exactly what he's doing to me. With a warning squeeze on my waist, he strides calmly ahead of me to the door. It's entirely unfair that Bishop gets to be so unaffected while I'm trying not to combust.

"Are you okay, little raven?" Levi's voice is tinged with amusement. When I turn to glare at him behind me, one side of his mouth kicks up in a small grin.

"Just fantastic, screech owl. Thanks so much for asking." I give him an overly sweet smile to go with my sarcasm. Levi huffs a quiet laugh before nudging me forward with his hand on my lower back. I go willingly because we really don't have time to waste. Who knows when someone could come wandering down this hall.

When we reach the door, Bishop is there, waiting for us. He heaves open the large metal door and peeks inside before waving us through. The sterile white room is empty. It's the end of the workday, plus a council meeting is going on. We were banking on the place being pretty deserted.

Things are going according to plan. At least, for now. Here's hoping our luck continues.

I glance around the room, taking in the white tiles, white walls, and white ceiling. The long tables in the center of the room are also white. Bright fluorescent lights harshly illuminate the windowless room.

Shelves line three of the walls. They're filled with an assortment of beakers, jars, and other scientific-looking lab equipment. Most of the glass containers are empty, but some have dried plants or murky liquids in them. We poke around the shelves for several minutes without finding anything.

"Think we should move on?" I don't turn around to look at the boys, because I'm having a staring contest with an eyeball floating in green liquid. Yep, an actual fucking human eyeball just chilling out on the shelf. I probably don't want to know why they have an eye in a jar.

I've worked on tons of potions with Anya. None of them ever called for any type of eye, much less a human one. The eye isn't for any normal potion, but maybe there's a reasonable explanation for it being here.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like there's anything here." Bishop's voice sounds to my left. I finally rip my gaze from the creepiest jar I've seen and glance at him. "You good, Izzy?"

I give him a sharp nod. "Yep." As weird as the eyeball is, that's far from the worst thing I've seen while doing work for Elemental.

Bishop's sky-blue eyes bounce between mine a few times before he turns around. He heads down the hallway on the far side of the room. That's the only wall without shelving. The bland white wall is broken up by a large, cased opening.

Levi and I trail behind Bishop. We wander down the seemingly never-ending hallway until we reach a door on the right. Bishop jiggles the silver handle, but the door doesn't budge. "Can you open this, Aiden?"

"Yepperoni, bro." I sigh at Aiden. Why is he like this? I'm pretty sure he's deathly allergic to responding to anything like a normal person. After a beat, he tells us, "It's unlocked. Have fun, my guys."

"Thanks, man." Bishop pushes open the door and freezes. "What the fuck?"